A condição do ser humano no plano-sequência de Béla Tarr

: um estudo de caso do filme Sátántangó

Abstract

This study, through an aesthetic-political reading, seeks to identify the ways in which Tarr represents the human being in the film Sátántangó, analysing the staging of the long take, a primordial cinematographic component of his work. The decision to engage in this inquiry is based on the scarcity of studies on Sátántangó, despite it being considered, by many critics, as Béla Tarr's masterpiece. Some of the available studies are in the field of philosophy and aesthetics and in only two of them (Heck, 2020; Batori, 2018), one finds an intent to explore the film from a socio-political perspective. This is a case study, based on the detailed analysis of three sets of shots, each evoking a communal geographical space - the Hungarian Great Plain, the scattered country estates and the tavern. The selection of these shots focused on those that best open a discussion of the human dimension, while also offering additional meanings to be explored in and of themselves and in relation to other shots in the film. Within this study, it was possible to examine the influence of socialist ideals on community spaces, as well as the impact that the political transition had on people's lives. From this, we arrive at the conclusion that the problems of poverty and social inequality in Europe remain; and that Sátántangó, even though it is over 25 years old, has a strength of actuality and meaning, capable of showing us that history is about the same people and that poverty, as it is revealed by Tarr's camera, is still a reality today.

Date of Award	7 Dec 2021
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Carlos Ruiz Carmona (Supervisor)